The Forgotten Forest: Riku
by VashandNaomiForever
Summary: Riku is struggling with depression, his therapist has suggested he write about the things that might have lead him to his current state of mind. He talks about his job (after hanging up his blade), his friends, and his reason for taking a camping trip with them. The Forgotten Forest is another world, a place even Mickey hasn't explored. A different kind of darkness lurks there.
1. Chapter 1

**The Forgotten Forest: Riku**

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square Enix and Disney.

-0-0-

I'm Riku, I turned twenty five a couple months ago, I work at a middle school as a student guidance counselor, and I am currently struggling with...depression. I don't know if it was pre existing, or if I fell into it after one of my students fatal accident, or if this trip we took heightened it. Either way, I deal with it as best as I can, I don't approve of medication, so the therapist thought writing down everything that happened would help. I know, that when she reads it, there will be a few things that will sound far fetched. I understand that as I begin, and I can only hope that this writing exercise helps...Nothing else seems to.

I guess I'll start with my chosen profession. I chose to become a guidance counselor because I remember being a troubled teen. I had so many questions about our existence, that no one could answer for me, so I searched for answers on my own and...lets just say I became a different person because of it.

I know what it's like, not knowing how to express certain feelings or emotions at that age, and that was something else I wanted to help with. I had been the troubled teen, and all I wanted to do was help kids before they got hurt...

It's hard, as I write, to think about what I need to open up about. You want to save them all, to be there for them, but every now and then, one somehow slips through the cracks, and all I can do is feel responsible.

His name was Timmy, he'd recently turned thirteen and was always getting into mischief. He wrote on bathroom walls, he'd start food fights in the cafeteria, and he'd cheat on his assignments. Not the most offensive boy, he wasn't a bully. He was just prone to acting out, and it was my job to try and figure out what was bothering Timmy.

At one of our many meetings in my office, he started talking about other worlds. Other existences, and because of my previous experiences in life, I had assumed that Timmy was a miniature explorer. That he wanted to someday find other worlds, and now, I see that I was wrong in my interpretation.

A month and a half ago, I found out that Timmy had overdosed. The kid, he'd gone into his parents medicine cabinet and taken pills. That's when his other world talk made me think, that maybe he'd been unhappy and wanted to see what was on the other side...Heaven. He was considering suicide, and all I did for him, was hand him information about becoming an archeologist, thinking that'd help him.

Timmy's death was hard, going into work and trying to help kids cope with it while I was still trying to accept it. I'd go home feeling cold and empty, like all my energy had been poured into trying to ease the other students pain.

I'd go shopping and nothing sounded good, usually I'd leave the store empty handed. Food just didn't taste right anymore, like I was eating playground sand.

One of the times I'd stopped into the market, a friend of mine had noticed me and we had talked. I think that's when she noticed the change in me, because shortly after I was informed that we were all going on a trip, and that I needed to ask for time off. Of course, the school was completely understanding, they gave me a whole week off. If my friend, Kairi is her name, if she hadn't invited me on this trip, I don't know where I'd be right now. I say that, but by the end of our trip...No, I will write this in order.

So, this trip we were going on had another person in it. He's my best friend from when we were little kids, his name's Sora. Now, because of his...work...we hardly ever see Sora. By we I'm meaning both Kairi and myself. The sad part is, she's dating him, and has been for years and she still barely gets to see him. I'm digressing, the point of all this, is that Sora and I haven't been on a trip together in forever, and it was nice to expect some quality time.

Sora, I suppose I need to try and describe him, he's almost six feet tall, he's lean, built kinda like a swimmer. Sora's hair is wildly spiked, I don't even want to know how much he spends on spiking gel. He's a very loyal person, and likes to laugh and joke a lot. He's still emotionally like a child, he's so carefree and untainted by adulthood that you have to wonder if he's secretly Peter Pan in disguise. All joking aside, he's my buddy, and I'd do anything for him.

Kairi's an average sized woman, she has long red hair that stops at the middle of her back. She has really pretty eyes, this deep blue color. Kairi, she's one of my best friends too, and when things ever start to feel...off...she's usually the first one to sense it.

Like I've mentioned before, Kairi and Sora are together. They've been together for a long time now, and when they showed up at my house with all their camping gear, I could tell that something was off. It bothered me that Kairi was saddled with carrying all the gear, Sora had nothing in his arms or strapped on his back. So when I came down to meet them, I offered to carry some of her things.

Sora was talking about places he had been while traveling for his work, and I helped Kairi readjust her baggage so that she only had to carry one backpack. She had looked relieved, then when we turned to Sora she sorta got an irritated look on her face. Anyway, I had noticed this and mentally prepared myself for relationship therapy, I got the feeling eventually she'd open up and tell me what was going on between her and Sora.

Sora took us to this special camping spot, it's not really known around here, but he called it the Forgotten Forest. The trees were all mature, and resembled pines. It was a very dense forest, I think we hiked eight miles in before we found a little clearing overlooking a creek some twenty feet below in a ravine. It was a pretty view, as we began to get out tent poles and work together on setting up our site.

Mostly it was Kairi and I, Sora kept getting distracted and he'd lope off to do something else. I didn't mind, Kairi and I were more than capable enough to set up a three person tent, but her glares Sora's way told me she was less than impressed.

As night rolled in, we started a fire and began roasting hotdogs and marshmallows. It was like being a kid all over again, laughing and joking...it was nice. Kairi was laughing along with us, but she also kept looking around us, at the dense forest. I finally asked her if she thought we'd see Bigfoot, just joking with her, and she asked if I had noticed we hadn't seen or heard any animals since walking into the forest.

Now, I thought for a moment, and I honestly couldn't recall hearing any wildlife noises. That's when we all got quiet and tried to listen for an owl, maybe, or some critter scurrying about the trees. We must have sat there a good twenty minutes, and all we ever heard was the swaying of trees in the light breeze.

"Animals sometimes avoid people, that's probably it." Sora spoke up, all of us looked at each other wearily, uncertain if that was the real reason.

Sora wandered into the tent, giving into sleep shortly after, we could hear his loud snores through the tent.

"He never thinks anything strange is going on until its too late." Kairi told me, and I had to admit, Sora never really looked for the bad things that might be waiting.

"You two doing okay?" I was being polite, I wasn't trying to pry but the looks she'd been giving her boyfriend weren't nice ones.

"It's like he's here, but not really. He's off thinking about his next mission when he should be focusing on what's in front of him..." Kairi was tossing little pebbles into the fire, and I held back my desire to pull her long hair behind her ear, to see her face better.

"Listen to me, I'm not the one who's dealt with a real tragedy. Riku, how have you been doing?" She turned her attention onto me, and I could feel the warmth within her eyes radiating towards me.

I told her it was hard, but I was managing. That this trip was really helping me relax. It made her smile, and her smile made me feel comforted. She squeezed me hand before heading into the tent, leaving me alone with the slowly dying fire.

I listen again to the wind, hearing the trees moaning lightly, but never catching sound of creatures. It was odd, but I had hoped that the next day would be different, that maybe we'd hike a bit and see some wildlife. With that hope in mind, I put out the listless fire and climbed into the tent.

-0-0-

That morning, I was the last person to wake up. I popped my head out of the tent and saw Kairi at the campfire, using a Dutch oven to cook breakfast on. As I meandered out, I noticed Sora wasn't around.

When I asked her where he'd gone, she gave a shrug, and nodded off towards the path through the woods.

"He wanted to go exploring, couldn't even wait till after breakfast." She explained in a less than pleased tone.

I sat down next to her and kept her company, in the back of my mind, I wondered if going off alone was such a good idea, but Sora was resourceful. He could manage if something happened, and he wasn't a child to be looked after. Though according to Kairi he behaved like one still.

We ate in silence, and I was trying to listen for animal sounds, when a loud shriek pierced my eardrums.

Kairi and I jumped from our seats and tore off into the forest. We were both calling out Sora's name as we ran, hoping to reach him in time. We came to a dead end, and turned around. There, laughing and pointing, was Sora.

"I got you guys good!" He laughed, and I had to physically restrain Kairi. She was furious with him, cussing up a storm and trying to escape my hold to clobber Sora. I wasn't pleased either, but Kairi was mad enough she really wanted to physically harm Sora. He couldn't understand why we were mad at him, as we walked back to our camp. Kairi was seething in my arms as I lead her towards the camp, making sure she didn't get too close to her prankster boyfriend.

When we arrived at camp, she bolted out of my hold and into the tent, warning both of us to leave her alone. It was horrible, Sora just didn't comprehend that we had thought the worst, that he'd really frightened us. He ate the remains of our breakfast before taking off with a fishing pole. He was going to climb down to the creek and catch fish for dinner...if there even were any fish.

After he trampled off, Kairi had slowly exited the tent. She had been crying, her eyes were bloodshot. I didn't know what to say or do for her. She sat next to the fire ring and stared off into the woods.

After a long moment of silence between us, she spoke to me.

"I don't know what I'm still doing with him." She had been angry, so I said she didn't really mean that.

Kairi turned to look at me, and her eyes were cloudy. "Riku, can I tell you something? Something personal?" It worried me, what she might have to say, but I was her friend. I told her that she could tell me anything.

"Sora and I...we aren't like other couples...we aren't very intimate." I felt my cheeks reddening, I hadn't wanted to hear about my friends problems in that way.

"He and I...We don't have sex." The look of shock on my face must have embarrassed her, because she looked away from me and started making symbols in the dirt.

I found it hard to believe, but her reaction to my shocked behavior meant that she wasn't making things up. It probably wasn't a religious reason, the three of us weren't in the mind set that you went to Hell if you had sex before marriage.

"Do you think it's normal?" She finally asked, glancing in my direction.

"Has he ever explained why?" I had to wonder what Sora was thinking, being in an eight year relationship and not reaching that level of intimacy?

"He's childish, he giggles and laughs and blushes and gets embarrassed and doesn't want to touch me that way. He told me it makes him feel '_uncomfortable'. _So here we are, together but I'm more like a mother taking care of a child than his girlfriend." She had been so sad, when she looked at me, her eyes getting glassy. I didn't know what to say.

Kairi took my hand in hers and squeezed it. She thanked me for listening to her problems, then shakily she made her way alone into the tent. I could hear her light sobs, and I wanted to go in there, to rub her back and tell her things would get better. I wanted to wipe away her tears, to tuck back her long hair, but I also knew that if I did, I might also find myself in a situation.

I couldn't guarantee that my emotions could withstand her need for comfort, I could see myself losing it and doing something no friend should do with his buddy's girl. That's exactly why I left the tent and the crying girl inside it, to talk with Sora down at the creek. Maybe I'd see his side of how their relationship was going. I wanted to try and help them, I wanted to do the right thing.

-0-0-


	2. Chapter 2

**The Forgotten Forest: Riku**

**Disclaimer:** Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square Enix and Disney.

-0-0-

I worked my way down to the creek, taking my time climbing down so that I didn't fall or slip. I could see Sora standing along the creeks edge, looking down at his pole with a miffed expression.

We hadn't seen hide or hair of any animals, it wouldn't have surprised me if there weren't any fish either. This forest, it was very unusual, and even though there wasn't any type of life around, I still got the feeling that we were all being observed...By what exactly, I couldn't really say.

I hailed my friend, he waved at me, taking a moment to reel in and cast off again. "No luck yet?" I had asked, trying to get a conversation going.

"I just don't get it, I'm using this awesome spinner, the fish ought to be biting!" Sora griped out his frustrations.

I sat close to him, looking at the clear water and trying to think up a way to speak with Sora about Kairi.

"Hey, you know, I'm sorry about that kid." Sora's voice interrupted my thoughts, and my stomach had started to churn uncomfortably.

"It's sad, but there's nothing you can do about it now. Just try and relax, huh? Enjoy yourself." He was attempting to make me feel better, but my heart just kept feeling heavier and heavier with guilt, and sorrow.

How could I enjoy myself? How could I let go of the image of that boy, drowning away his sorrows with pills. Before I knew it, I had felt tears sliding down my face, I tried to quickly wipe them away before Sora noticed, but it was too late.

He had seen me teary eyes and he had set down his pole to sit close to me. He had patted me on the back, had told me I'd be okay. It was such an odd thing, receiving comfort from Sora like that. I never wanted to let anyone see me like that, but my emotions had betrayed me. I felt weak and exhausted just from weeping that tiny bit, my whole body was feeling sore and achy.

I scooted backwards until my back was pressed against a tree, and closed my eyes for a moment. I heard Sora stand up, I could hear him casting out his line again, and then sleep took me.

I can't remember how long I was out, but when I woke up, the sun was starting to set. I couldn't see Sora anywhere, which was goofy. Why'd he leave me alone to sleep in a place we knew nothing about? I felt anger towards him as I stood up and stretched, cracking joints and feeling a little relief. When I was done stretching, I could still hear a weird cracking noise near me. I looked up into the tree I was underneath and could have sworn I saw...its _limbs_ moving. I quickly moved away from the tree, the noise stopping when I did so.

I wasn't enjoying my time alone, with the tree close to me acting very peculiar, I just wanted to climb back up the little ravine and get back to camp. So I backed up, towards the place I had climbed down from, keeping my eyes on the tree. It stayed perfectly still, but I could have sworn it looked bigger the further I moved from it. . .

I only turned my back to it when I got to the path I had climbed, as I hurriedly scaled the ravine, I could hear crinkling noises below me. I didn't have the guts to look back, I just climbed faster until I made it all the way back to the camp.

There was a fire going, Kairi was sitting next to it. As I neared, she turned to look at me. Her eyes were frightened, her face looked dirty and her hair was a mess.

I asked her what happened. She just kinda looked off towards the trees, not answering me at first. I rummaged through my pack next to the tent, pulling out a washcloth and a bottle of water.

"Come here." I spoke to her gently, as I doused the end of my washcloth with fresh water. She shivered as I reached out and pressed the cool cloth to her dirty cheek, I was careful as I wiped away the dust and grime.

Softly I placed my free hand on her jaw to tilt her head to face me directly. Her eyes still held fear in them, as I thoroughly finished up wiping off the remainder of the dirt.

"Talk to me, Kairi. What went on?" I was pleading with her, and for a moment I thought she might stay silent, then the words just started flowing out of her.

"I saw something, it was a while after you left. At first, it was this sound, this cracking noise. Then out in that path," she pointed to the path we'd taken to get here, "I saw it."

Her eyes were wide and wild as she looked at me, expecting me to disbelieve her right away. I just nodded, letting her know I wanted to hear the rest of her tale.

"It stood there, just staring at me. I wasn't sure who or what it was, but then...it said my name! I closed my eyes for a few seconds, I was scared, I didn't want to believe what I was seeing! Then when I opened my eyes, it had gotten closer." She was shaking now, as she continued to tell me more.

"Riku, it was my _Grandma_...She's been dead for _five years._..but it was her! Staring at me...I didn't know what to do, I loved my Grandma, but I was scared that it was just my imagination."

Kairi had closed her eyes at that point, and leaned into me. I put one arm around her, trying to comfort her frightened heart.

"Riku, I did something stupid. I went over to her. I kept telling myself just a little closer, and I kept on going until she was a few feet in front of me...The smell had started then, like rotten eggs, or sulfur. I coughed, gaged even, and she was just staring at me. Then, her hand reached out, and I don't know what I was thinking, but I grabbed it, Riku! I _grabbed_ it!" She was quivering in my arms at that moment, I knew that must have been when the really bad stuff happened. The reason behind her roughed up appearance.

"She started pulling me towards the trees, I pulled back and she shoved me down into the dirt. Her hands wrapped around my hair and rubbed my face into the ground. She started saying terrible, mean things to me. Words my Grandma would never have spoken. I didn't know what to do, I was panicking! Then something happened, I haven't done it since we were all teens. Somehow, I summoned my keyblade! Once it was there, it was like an adrenalin rush, I felt my strength coming back, and I was able to toss the thing off me and swipe it with my blade."

(I know that, as my therapist, you aren't going to understand what I mean by keyblade. Let's just say, all three of us are able to summon a weapon to defend ourselves with, and I doubt you'll believe it, but we're getting to the point of this trip where things get very weird, and unexplainable. I am only writing what really happened, whether or not you believe it. )

I asked her what happened then, and she turned her gaze back towards the forest surrounding us. "It turned into a bunch of dead tree limbs."

The sun was fully set now, the fire our only source of light. It felt like the trees were moving in on us, making our camp site smaller, more confined. I asked her about Sora, if she'd seen him after her horrible encounter.

Kairi hadn't seen him at all, she had assumed Sora was still with me. So there we were, two friends in the firelight, looking at the dense trees wearily. Wondering if it'd be a wise choice to look for Sora, or wait and see if he'd show up soon.

I felt like a coward, holding onto Kairi as we both looked out into those dark, thick woods. Neither of us speaking, trying to listen for any sign that Sora might be close. A fog began to appear, hindering our limited line of sight. I had goose bumps up and down my arms and neck, the air was getting so cold.

Kairi broke the silence, suggesting we go inside the tent to wait. I felt even worse as we zipped ourselves in, the cheap plastic making us feel somewhat protected. I wrapped both our bodies with a blanket, keeping Kairi against me for warmth, and comfort. We sat there, staring out for what felt like hours. How that fire stayed aflame without any stoking was as big a mystery as Soras dissapearance.


	3. Chapter 3

**The Forgotten Forest: Riku**

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square Enix and Disney.

-0-0-

I stayed awake that entire evening, Kairi had eventually sacked out in my arms. Her face had looked so tired, she had a deep frown on as she slept, and I had to wonder if she'd experience that horrific event again inside her dream.

After laying her body on a sleeping bag, I zipped the little window open to see what was going on outside. The fog was lifting, I remember feeling relief at that. Then after it had gone, I started noticing little glowing objects staring at our camp site, they looked like eyes...

It bothered me, so I had taken out a flashlight and pointed the battery powered rays at the eerie eyes within the trees. The moment my light landed on a pair of glowing orbs, they disappeared. Yet when I'd swing my light to another area, the eyes would pop back again.

I had wanted to wake Kairi up so bad, the eyes were really starting to disturb me, but I couldn't bring myself to awaken her. She'd dealt with enough, I should have been able to handle the strangeness going on. I should have been able to do a lot of things in our situation...

As the sun began to rise, one by one the eyes began to vanish. I only stepped out of the tent when every last pair was gone. When I did step out, I felt like the trees had edged in closer, our clearing had somehow gotten smaller. How many nights could we keep staying here until shit really started hitting the fan? One thing was certain, this place wasn't safe, the environment surrounding us wanted us to leave. We couldn't leave without Sora.

While I was cleaning up around our camp, I heard movement in the distance. I turned my attention to the trees, looking at the different paths and wondering if my mind was playing tricks.

"Sora?!" I called out, the sound grew louder, it was getting closer.

He came out of the trees, not from one of the normal paths. His clothes were a little roughed up, no rips or tears, just wrinkled like he'd slept in them. The main thing about him that I really noticed, was his expression. He wasn't smiling, but Sora also wasn't quite frowning. He just had this deer in the headlights look, as if he'd been in a trance.

"Where the Hell have you been?!" I couldn't help being angry, he had worried us.

"I got lost in the trees..." He spoke hollowly, he continued to stand and stare blankly.

"Why didn't you come back to camp in the first place?" I had walked over to him, I was pissed but his strange behavior was turning my frustration into concern.

"A voice, I thought I heard a voice." His eyes glassed over, as if he were remembering.

"A voice? Who's?" I thought if I kept him talking, we might get real answers out of him. Answers that might help our current situation.

"Nothing, it was nothing." Sora's glassy eyed look had faded, he started to smile again, a complete mood change.

"Got breakfast cooking?" He casually asked, walking over to the camp and looking over our cooking gear.

"What about last night? Kairi's going to want an explanation, Sora." I was trying to get him to focus, but he was avoiding my questions. He picked up a clean skillet and started messing with lighting a new fire.

"Listen, I think you should know, that Kairi had a rough day yesterday. She's been through an ordeal and you should really try to listen to her about it. Maybe it'll make you want to open up about what happened to you last night." Sora had lit the fire, and placed the skillet above the flame on a metal stand we had set up for cooking. He glanced my way and said that nothing had happened to him. He'd gotten lost and now he wasn't.

"Sora, we need to be honest with each other. If Kairi's not the only one who had something strange happen, then we need to know, to make plans and take action." I wasn't getting through to him, he just kept getting out things to cook, ignoring me completely.

That's when Kairi came out of the tent. She saw Sora and went to hug him, and he had gotten stiff, had sorta shrugged her off. This made her mad, and she started in on the same questions I had asked him.

"We were worried, Sora! This place isn't some safe wonderland to frolic in, you could have been hurt!" Kairi was met with silence from Sora. He was busy frying bacon, along with Kairi's nerves.

"This is it, we're going home after breakfast!" Kairi had got his attention then. Sora started arguing, saying he had more places he wanted to explore.

"Sora, with what happened to Kairi, none of us should wander off alone." I was only being sensible, but Sora was offended by it.

"I'm don't need a chaperone to walk in a forest! I'm not leaving, there's so much we haven't uncovered yet..." He was unreasonable, even after Kairi told him about her strange encounter, Sora seemed to think Kairi was exaggerating.

"You _think_ you saw, no one else was around to see it happen." Sora had argued, and in his eagerness to disbelieve such a thing, he had hurt Kairi's feelings.

"I'm not a liar, Sora! I know what I saw!" She had yelled at him, he avoided eye contact with her. Sora shrugged then, as if just letting the matter drop.

"Fine, be a stubborn ass!" Kairi had cursed him, she was rummaging through her pack. I asked what she was doing, wanting to be supportive.

"I'm grungy, I'd like to scrub off in the creek. I'd just take a _shower_ if we were headed back _home_, but since Sora thinks everything's _chocolates_ and _rainbows _here, I guess I'll just scrub off in the only water source we have!" Her eyes were glaring daggers at Sora as he scarfed down his bacon. Her hands brought up a towel and some soap, I watched as she huffily went over to the path I'd taken last night.

"What the?!" I went over to see what she was staring at, and I couldn't believe it myself. That tree I'd been weary of, the one I had slept under...It had moved next to the ravine wall, it's branches reaching up like arms against the wall, blocking the original way we had been climbing down.

"Sora, come look at this!" I waved him over. He had been disinterested, had hesitated before wandering over to see the oddity below us.

"Think this place is still safe?" Kairi had asked, Sora stared dumbly at the tree.

"How'd that happen?" He wondered out loud, none of us had any answer. This place, it was abnormal, even by _our_ standards. We'd traveled often, had seen some pretty amazing sights, but this was different.

"We should leave." Kairi urged, but Sora wouldn't have any of it. He walked back to camp and started eating again, acting as if he hasn't just seen what we'd shown him.

"I'll make a new path, here, let me carry something." I had taken her soap, she had wrapped her towel around her shoulders as she scaled downward, following my foot holds all the way to the bottom. We stayed away from the uprooted tree, and found a good spot along the creek to wash up. I had taken off my sneakers and socks to dip my feet into the fresh water. At least the creek wasn't dark and corrupted like the forest around it.

Kairi was dipping her feet in the creek as well, she was sipping on something, and as I looked closely, I realized she was drinking out of a flask.

"Kairi, is that what I think it is?" In our situation, drinking wasn't going to solve our problem.

"I know, I probably shouldn't, but I just wanted a little taste. It helps me deal with..._that_." She nodded up top where our camping spot was. "And that." She pointed over to the creepy, uprooted tree.

"I never knew you started drinking because of...I always thought you two were the perfect pair, the type of thing you strive to find. I mean, after eight years..."

"After eight years you'd think Sora would drop the _prude little boy_ act and touch me like a _man_." She had taken a big swig after that cold statement, before handing it my way.

"I don't want any." I had told her.

"Just one swig, it's not going to effect you if it's one tiny sip, Riku." She was giving me a teasing look, and I'm not proud to say that her expectant eyes won me over. I'd succumbed to peer pressure, even at twenty five I guess it still happens.

Kairi started going down memory lane, bringing up stuff from our past. We'd pass the flask back and forth, I'd remind myself just to take a small sip, that'd it'd be okay if I just sipped a bit at a time.

"Remember my senior year, when Prom came along and Sora couldn't go and...you took me?" I remembered that night, it'd been one occasion where I'd been off duty, when I was actually able to enjoy a normal teenage event. I remember her asking me, and sounding nervous, like she expected me to say no. I played it cool, had been nonchalant in saying yes, but deep down, I was really excited.

Kairi had looked so damn pretty, I wasn't use to walking around with her so dolled up. I'd kinda been quiet, I guess she had thought I wasn't happy to be there, cause she had said I didn't have to stay if I was uncomfortable. That's when I decided to let go a little, and I lead her onto the dance floor. We slow danced, and I remember her smiling a lot. I think one of my happier teenage memories is going to that dance with her.

"I remember, what brought up that memory?" I had asked her.

"All the kids there, they kept thinking you were Sora, that you were my boyfriend. I had to keep telling them that you weren't Sora...I guess, I brought it up cause, if it happened now, I'd probably let them think what they want." She stood up and started unbuttoning her sleeveless shirt.

"That waters freezing, Kairi. Feels good on feet but I don't think I'd dive in head first." I turned away, her bra was showing and I wanted to give her privacy.

"Riku, we're not kids anymore. I'm keeping my bra on so there's no need to be shy. As for the cold water, I'd rather feel cold and clean than warm and sweaty." I slowly turned my head to look at her. I know she had on her bra and panties, but I still was unnerved. I mean, Sora could have come down there and thought something was going on...

Okay, so maybe I wasn't worried about Sora. Maybe I was worried about my own self. I admit that I find my friend attractive, but I also admit that I was drinking before her clothes even were off...I know how this is sounding, but you gotta believe that I have always had the best intentions. I'd never think about stepping in on someone else's girl, especially my best buddy's!

Kairi, she had eased into the creek, and turned towards the shore to grab her soap. Somehow, she couldn't quite reach it and had asked if I'd hand it to her. It was one of those bottled, shower gel kind of soaps, so I went over and handed it to her, and the unexpected happened. She pulled me into the creek! I was soaked to the bone, my clothes completely wet. I was trying to climb out, but she'd pull me back in. Finally I gave in and stood in the chilly water, and asked her what she wanted from me.

"Hey, I have to share a tent with you, so if I'm forced to stay here another night, I want my camping buddy to smell nice." She had on such a goofy grin, as she began to pull off my soaked shirt. It was tossed onto the shore, making a big sloshing sound as it landed. Her busy hands had squirted the pink soapy gel onto one palm, she placed her soap covered palm in the middle of my chest. Her fingers scrubbed my sparse silver chest hairs, then they slid over my stomach.

I had grabbed her wrists with one hand as she neared the waist of my trousers. She giggled at me as I turned her around and held her arms still. I rubbed my chest against her back, as a joke, getting her covered in soap, and she responded in a funny way. She leaned into me, arching her neck to one side and letting out a sigh.

I felt my self control slipping, my mind was irrational and my body was misbehaving as I leaned into her neck and let my lips touch her skin.

Kairi tensed up, she was taking shallow breaths as I took my sweet time, kissing her neck up and down gently. As I held her there, her body pressed against mine, I felt a reaction happening within my trousers. Which because of the cold water, you'd think I'd be unable to get a hard on. That wasn't the case there, I was feeling very achy down there as my body betrayed my common manners. Soon there was no denying that Kairi wasn't able to feel it pressed against her rear.

"Riku, we should stop." She was able to pull out of my grip, and I could feel my entire body shaking as I watched her dip into the water to rinse her back off.

I went to climb out, when she touched my arm. "Riku, your chest is still soapy." She told me, I had forgotten. My eyes slowly moved to look directly at her, her hand was still resting against my arm.

Her eyes left my face to gaze at my sudsy chest, then they moved lower, and I noticed her cheeks had gotten red. I looked down at myself, and could see through the water that my erection had pushed up and was barely sticking out of the waist of my pants.

I got a little embarrassed, my foggy mind slowly awakening. I turned my back to her and bent my knees to sink lower into the water. I rinsed off and turned back towards the creeks edge. Again, Kairi's hand landed on me, this time on my right shoulder.

"Riku, please..." I didn't know what to think, what to say to her. That tone in her voice though, it sounded so lonely. I turned to her, and she had on a uncertain hunger in her deep eyes.

"Sora is up there, he's probably wondering what's taking us so long." I tried being the voice of reason, and she did crawl out of the creek and start to dry off. I followed by example, though since I hadn't brought a towel, I took my pants off to dry in the sun and waited in my boxer shorts for my turn to use her towel.

Kairi had slipped off her wet underwear, and was letting it dry next to my own wet clothes. She threw on her dry top and shorts and handed me the towel.

As I began to dry off, I watched her find a grassy spot next to our clothes. She casually laid down next to them and spoke not a words as I finished toweling off. I walked over next to her and took a seat, we'd probably wait a bit for our clothes to dry, then we'd take off for camp.

It was a warm day, and our position was good for keeping a close eye on the uprooted tree. I had spent the whole night awake, and asked Kairi if she'd mind if I took a quick power nap. She had sorta shrugged, not speaking but understanding what I wanted. I let my eyes close, and felt reassurance that Kairi wouldn't leave me alone once I did fall asleep.

-0-0-

I dreamed about her, about what we could have done. How she'd explore my body, find my eager appendage and stroke it. I could really feel the firm, aggressive strokes in that dream, they were so strong I felt a little pain actually when she'd pull on it...

I opened my eyes, and to my horror and shock, something really was pulling on my dick. A root had come from somewhere, and had managed to place itself around my tender erection. I started shaking, I was so scared that the root was going to pull my junk completely off, that I felt my bladder give way. I literally pissed myself, I was so afraid, and do you know what that root did? It began to absorb my piss! It was a fight or die moment for me, so I took ahold of the roots and began breaking them apart, tugging them off my sore penis.

A moan caught my attention, once the root was taken care of. Next to me, Kairi was laying on her stomach. She looked like she was sleeping, maybe having a dream. Then my eyes noticed something odd on her body. A root had worked its way into her shorts, and I figured out why she was moaning.

"Son of a bitch!" I had been so afraid for her, as I stood up and went to bend over her body.

My hands were shaking as I gripped the two inch thick root and yanked on it. It started to pull itself back in her! So I pulled harder and yanked the entire eight inches of root out of her body.

I stomped on it, breaking it into pieces before shaking Kairi awake.

"Get up, we need to leave." I told her, she had reached down and touched herself.

"Oh my God. Riku, did we...?" She looked at me with worried eyes.

"It's the forest, it's starting to act out again. Come on." I helped her up, we grabbed our clothes and headed towards the ravine path. It was still mid afternoon, but the light around us was eerie, unpleasant. That uprooted tree was still there, thankfully it hadn't blocked our new path up to the campsite. As we started climbing, I could hear a cracking sound below us. I warned Kairi not to look back, to keep climbing. Whatever was making that noise, I had no desire to see it in action.

As we made it to the top, both Kairi and I had taken a peek to see what had been following us. The path we had taken was now covered in thick roots, blocking anyone from going back down to the creek.

"Screw Soras attitude, we need to leave." I had turned around and there was Sora, looking at us expectantly.

"Sora, we need to leave tonight!" Kairi jogged up to him, he kept staring at me, he had on a funny look.

"You two sure took your time." He had a tone in his voice, and I hadn't liked it. I looked down and realized I was still in my boxers, and Kairi was carrying my pants.

"Sora, listen to her. We need to leave." I took a few steps towards my friends. As I got near Kairi, Sora suddenly pushed me.

"How about _you_ leave!" Sora yelled at me, Kairi told him to stop it, and Sora started saying very unkind things to Kairi. He started accusing her of being a slut, and had spoken in a manner I had never heard my friend speak before.

"Eight years and all you can think about is screwing! You wanted to take this trip just so you could screw Riku, didn't you?! You're a whore, Kairi, a stupid, ugly whore!" Sora went to push her like he had pushed me, that was when I stepped between them.

"You're not acting normal, Sora. It's this forest, we need to get out of here before we all do or say things we'll regret later." I was trying to be the peacemaker, and Sora wasn't interested in any of it.

"Regret? You're sure full of _that_ these days, eh Riku? What was the kids name again? Billy? Bobby? Either way, he's dead because of you. You let him down, just like you let me down when you stopped saving worlds." I had punched him, he had crossed a line, and I had hit him in the face. Sora had fallen down from the punch, and as he got up, the entire forest around us started to make crackling noises.

"What's happening?!" I heard Kairi yelling over the loud sounds coming from all the trees.

A shape came out into the path, and I noticed more shapes appearing behind it. Soon we were seeing dozens of odd, human like shapes. Their skin bark like, their eyes dark knotholes gazing out at us. Brach like arms reaching out as they started to move in closer.

"Kairi, you gotta try summoning your keyblade again! Sora, why aren't you wielding your keyblade?" I noticed he hadn't summoned his, he just stared blankly at the advancing enemies.

I concentrated and produced my own blade, Kairi had hers in hand as well. It was just Sora without his.

"Why aren't you summoning it? All of us did!" It just didn't make sense, the way he kept staring dumbly at the menacing tree creatures before us. Then a very unsettling thought came to me, a thought that gave me this idea to touch him with my own blade.

My blade touched his arm, and it turned into a branch. This wasn't our Sora...


End file.
